


Pushing Limits

by bishonenrockmysocks



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Chronic Illness, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Post-Canon, Soft Intimate Moments
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-19
Updated: 2021-03-19
Packaged: 2021-03-28 08:07:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,244
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30136533
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bishonenrockmysocks/pseuds/bishonenrockmysocks
Summary: During reconstruction work in Salineas, Hordak collapses and is minorly injured. Crisis averted and Hordak safely tucked into bed, Entrapta arrives late that night and slips into bed to give her overworked partner some much needed cuddles.
Relationships: Entrapta/Hordak (She-Ra)
Comments: 29
Kudos: 98





	Pushing Limits

**Author's Note:**

> This was a completely unplanned and spur of the moment idea that popped into my head after reading [this conversation](https://cruelfeline.tumblr.com/post/646055549154295808/bow-says-the-big-guy-line-i-read-it-in-his) between CruelFeline and DoomHamster earlier this evening that _demanded_ to be written. I think the story probably stands on its own just fine, but I encourage y'all to still go read the short tumblr post for context anyway.
> 
> \--  
> Advance warning: There is some slight, obtuse needle mention/description towards the very end, but as someone with a needle phobia, I don't think it's enough to cause problems.

Entrapta checked her data pad for confirmation- _row 6, unit 9_ \- and glanced back up at the number stickers on the door- 609- yup this was definitely the one! She swapped the data pad out for the spare key Adora had given her and tried it in the lock. It clicked and she opened the door as quietly as she could, pulling up on the handle to partially lift the cheap wood and prevent the door from scraping loudly on the floor like she’d been warned they tended to do.

She removed her boots at the threshold before stepping inside and setting them next to Hordak’s in the entryway. It was hard to take in the finer details of the room in the dark, but there really wasn’t much to see in the temporary prefab unit anyway. A mini kitchenette with a couple of used tea mugs in the sink and a table barely big enough for two ran along one wall, the edges of a cubical shower peeked out through an open door across from her, and to her right was just enough room for a bed and wardrobe.

Good, that little _talk_ she and Imp had had with Mermista last month seemed to have gotten through; this was _far_ more acceptable than that flimsy excuse for a tent and pallet she’d set Hordak up with previously. It could stand to be better, certainly, but the barely 200 square foot room afforded her partner both privacy and access to the things he needed and did it without treating him any better or worse than Salineas’ other temporary workers.

Gingerly closing and locking the door behind her, she watched the soft rise and fall of Hordak’s back as she removed her gloves, mask, and overalls and set them and her shoulder bag on the floor at the foot of the bed. She carefully pulled back the covers, wincing at the bruises she could see already forming on Hordak’s swollen shoulder, and slipped in beside him. Avoiding the likely very tender location as best she could, she curled against his back and let her hair wind around his arms and legs. She pressed a kiss to his neck just below the port and nuzzled her face between his shoulder blades, closing her eyes and relaxing against him.

Entrapta’d very nearly fallen asleep herself when she felt Hordak’s chest rumble and heard him groan a little. He tugged at her hair lightly and she loosened the strands so he could twist and blearily look over his injured shoulder.

“...’trapta?”

She scooched and propped herself up on her elbow to better look at him, one hand rubbing his side soothingly.

“Sorry, I was trying not to wake you.”

“What’re you…? When...?” Hordak trailed off, voice lilting up in confusion. He winced and clenched his teeth as he shifted closer to the wall to make room for her, panting ever so slightly by the time he finally laid on his back.

Oof. He’d really done a number on himself this time.

“I got into town about an hour ago, I think? I’ve definitely only been here with you for maybe ten, twenty minutes, tops.”

Hordak let out a pained sighed and ran a palm against his face.

“You didn’t have to do that.”

“Do what? Come see you?” She smiled at him and ran the back of her fingers against the side of his face the way she knew he liked. “Why wouldn’t I?”

His face turned into the gesture and he let his hand fall away to rest on his stomach. “You’ve been busy too.”

“So?”

“It is…” he hesitated, red eyes squinting up at the ceiling. “Unrealistic.” 

“How so?”

“That you should drop everything and come running to my side any time I have an... _episode._ " He growled in what she'd slowly come to recognize as frustration with himself. "Much as I greatly appreciate your presence, I should still be capable of functioning on my own without you around to...look after me.”

“I’m pretty sure no one’s said you aren’t.” She smiled softly at him. “ _I_ certainly don’t think that.”

Hordak cringed and tilted his head a fraction away from her “But you-” 

“I-” she said, drawing the word out as she reached out to guide his face back in her direction. “Was already planning on coming to Salineas early.”

“You were?”

“Mmhm.” She stroked her thumb against his cheek, tracing the edge of the pigmentation change. “I finished up with Frosta sooner than expected and was going to swing down to Dryl tomorrow morning to pick up Emily and Imp and then we were all going to surprise you that evening. Then Adora called me earlier this afternoon and I decided I’d come on ahead.”

“Ahead?”

“Yep. Kadroh and Double Trouble are bringing them and the supplies I was having prepped tomorrow.”

Hordak groaned and closed his eyes. “Two more people inconvenienced by my foolishness.”

“Not really.” She trailed her hand down his body and caught one of his hands clenched tightly in the blanket, twining her fingers with his. “They were both already in Dryl and Double Trouble’s been wanting to go to Seaworthy for some reason- a performance of some kind, I think?” Her face screwed to the side for a moment as she hummed in thought, a lock of hair scratching her chin. She shrugged after a moment. “Either way, Kadroh said they were heading in this direction anyway and that they’d be more than happy to help and that it’s a great excuse to see you and everyone else.” 

Hordak eyed her for a moment, looking for some hint of her lying or withholding something from him, but found nothing and instead turned downcast.

She gently brought their intertwined hands up and kissed the back of his hand.

“I promise, it’s really not that big of a deal.”

“...I suppose.”

Several minutes passed in silence as Entrapta watched Hordak’s subtle movements and expressions. There were the involuntary tremors and twitches that he usually had in his arms and legs during a flare, and she used her hair to rub at his limbs like normal, but there were other tells that indicated something else was wrong- the way his jaw clenched, the crease of his brow, and were his toes- yes, they were curled too. And- oh, there, he was doing that little chewing motion, not quite biting at his lips or cheeks but still working his mouth ever so slightly; Hordak only ever did that when he was busy spinning himself up into another self-hatred spiral.

She pulled her hand from his, replacing it with a spool of hair, and reached up to poke him square between the brow. She let out an amused breath as his head pulled back into his pillow, face scrunching and his eyes blinking rapidly as they focused in on her finger. He glanced indignantly between her and the offending digit.

“What in the void are you doing?”

“Get out of your head.”

“Excuse me?”

“You’re thinking too much again.”

“I am not-”

“Yes you are. You basically always do after something like this.” She pulled her finger away and rested her hand against his chest. “So, instead of laying there and convincing yourself you’re an awful person who doesn’t deserve kindness, which you’re not and you absolutely do, why don’t you just tell me what’s bothering you?”

“I…”

Hordak scrunched expression softened into something sadder and his ears dipped low. 

“It’s just…”

Her thumb rubbed softly against his chest. “Go on…”

“The entire situation is humiliating.”

“You know there’s nothing to be embarrassed about, right?”

“Of course there is! I caused a scene and inconvenienced everyone-”

“It’s not your fault. These things happen.”

“But they shouldn’t! And now the entire project has been delayed and-”

“So what? Bow and Catra figured out a workaround while you were out and, sure, it’s not exactly ideal, but with me here we can probably keep things from getting too off schedule while you recover.”

“But the deadline!”

“Hordak, it’s fiiiiine. Relaaax.” She cupped his cheek and pressed her forehead against his. “I know you want this to go well, but I promise you it’s really okay.”

“But...”

“You know no one is mad at you right?” 

“Of course they are! Because of me-”

“No,” she drew the word out as she sat back on her elbow again, pining him with a hard stare. “Nobody’s angry with you,” Hordak tried to interject but she cut him off. “not even _Mermista_.”

“But everyone was so upset…”

“Of course they were," she swept her hand out for emphasis."It was the first time they’d seen you collapse! They were surprised and worried, just like I was the first time! Plus, from what I heard, you hit the ground really hard and, when Catra found you, your head was bleeding. Catra said she put pressure on it, but apparently it didn’t stop the whole time while Mermista ran to get Adora so she could heal it. She actually still looked pretty freaked out when I saw her earlier, to be honest.”

Hordak didn’t reply and she watched his head dip and his shoulders curl stiffly in.

“You scared them, that’s all. I don’t think any of them have ever really understood just how bad things can get for you sometimes.”

She reached up and ran her fingers through his hair. His eyes drooped to barely open slivers and he relaxed a bit, tilting into the touch.

“What happened, anyway? I know you’ve been kind of tired recently, but you seemed like you were still doing pretty okay when we called a few days ago. You didn’t run out of your medicine, did you?”

“No, no,” Hordak grimaced. “Nothing like that. I just...I knew I was pushing too hard, I could feel it, but you know how important this project is!”

“I do.”

“It _needs_ to be done and done as quickly as possible. _Everyone_ is exhausted and already working long hours on it, not just me, and the plan was for us all to take time off to rest as soon as the last of the parts are in place, so I...I told myself, if I could hold out for another day or two, that it would be unpleasant but then the work would be done and then I could rest as much as necessary.” His words began to speed up, almost as if he were begging or bargaining with her. “I- I’ve done it before, back in the Fright Zone, and it went fine then, so I thought- it was just another day- a few more hours-”

“Would you have told me if I’d been here?” 

He gave her a pleading look. “Entrapta…” 

“No, it’s okay, I get it, I really do!” she smiled reassuringly at him. “I’m honestly not blaming you for not warning them you were hitting your limit.” 

“When Adora mentioned she’d called you, I...I thought you’d be mad at me.” 

“Mad? Nah." She bent a hand dismissively. "Worried, definitely, but I understand. You still don’t trust them, not with something like this, and that’s more than fair. I mean, there’s a _ton_ of stuff I don’t tell the others, you know that, because I don’t trust them with the really important stuff either.” She rolled her eyes, making sure the gesturing was exaggerated and clearly inviting him to share in their mutual frustrations with the princesses. A corner of his mouth quirked up in response, so she counted it as a win.

“And you’re right,” she continued. “The project _is_ pretty important this time and, even if I’d rather you be safe, you know as well as I do I ignore my own short term needs to get things done sometimes too, so it’d be pretty hypocritical of me to call you out on that. I’m just asking to be sure that, if I’d been here or if we’d been in Dryl or something like that, that you’d have at least let me know so I could watch out for you and be there to help if something happened.”

“I do not want you to feel like you must always be around to keep an eye on me-”

“That’s not what I’m asking.”

“...Of course I would have told you.” Hordak huffed through his nose and smiled bitterly. “Although I doubt I’d have needed to- you often know when I’m reaching a wall well before I do.”

Entrapta smiled and kissed his forehead.

“Good. It’s one thing not to tell people you don’t trust, it’s a totally different thing to hide something like this because you’ve slid back into thinking you shouldn’t do things that make you feel better.”

“You have indeed made your opinion on that matter rather clear in the past.”

“Yeah, well, you’ve worked really hard to break that nasty habit, so I’d hate to see you start having second thoughts.”

“As if you’d let me get away with it.” 

Hordak smirked at her and she smirked back.

“Definitely not.”

Entrapta unraveled the bulk of her hair from around her partner and sat up, sending a tendril out to dig into her pack.

“When did you last eat?”

“I,” Hordak paused, staring at the ceiling as he thought. “...am unsure. This morning?”

“Uh huh. So definitely not recently enough.”

“Likely not.”

“Well, I’ve got some apple buns that Baker sent with me when I went to the Queendom of Snows that I haven’t finished yet. They’re not exactly the best thing, but I’d rather we get _something_ in you now to hold over until breakfast later.” She patted the mattress as her hair pulled out a tin from her bag. “See if you can sit up.”

It was definitely a struggle and he had to lean into her steadying hold for a few moments after he was upright, but once he’d caught his breath he had enough strength to remain sitting on his own. Nonetheless, several loops of hair curled around him protectively, ready to brace him if he needed it but still letting him move under his own power. 

Honestly, what she really wanted to do was pick him up and cradle him or pose him and his bedding against the wall until she was satisfied he was comfy, but after their last argument, the closest thing to a real fight they'd ever really had, she had to respect his wishes, even now; Hordak knew she was only ever trying to help, but she had to let him try and do things on his own whenever he could and he _needed_ her to give him that chance rather than just assuming he couldn’t or automatically doing things for him just because it was faster and easier for her. In return, he’d sworn to her that he’d ask for her help when he needed it or when he was just too tired and, so far, he’d been true to his word.

Hordak smiled and gently squeezed her knee in wordless appreciation.

Entrapta smiled back and passed him the half finished tin of apple buns and they ate together in companionable silence. Inevitably, her attention began to wander and her eyes drifted over to the table on the other side of the room. Hordak’s tablet was laying on top of it beside several of his medications and the rest of his things, including his work exoskeleton, sat in the chair next to it.

“Hordak?”

“Mm?”

“When was the last time you had your medications?”

“After I’d woken up, although I’m not sure when exactly that was. Adora and Catra brought me back here and, after Catra left, Adora helped me out of my armor and measured them out for me.” He chewed thoughtfully and then squinted at Entrapta accusingly. “She said she knew how because you’d given her instructions.”

Entrapta giggled sheepishly and scratched the back of her head. “Yeeeeah, I might have sent her your medicine schedule when you first got here, just in case something happened and you weren’t able to tell her what to do and they couldn’t get ahold of me.”

Hordak sighed.

“Please don’t be mad- I wanted to be sure you’d be okay since neither Imp or I were here with you and Adora’s really trustworthy and-”

He held up a hand. “It’s fine. I would merely prefer you tell me next time, that’s all.” He hesitated, continuing a few moments later. “And I am glad you did. Adora is indeed someone I feel...safe enough to let know.” 

Entrapta beamed at him. “You should make sure you tell her that next time you see her.”

“I...will endeavor to do so.”

Ensuring Hordak got the last bun, Entrapta set aside the empty tin and stood, crossing over to the table.

“Adora mentioned making note of the time…” Hordak called after her.

He was right, she had. It was too early to take any of his morning medication, but he was well overdue for the pain suppressant. She relayed the information back to Hordak and, after a little back and forth, began prepping the auto-injector for him. She logged the time and returned to her partner, sitting next to him and offering out the capped injector.

“Do you want to do it or would you like me to?”

Hordak considered the cylinder for a moment, rolling his shoulders experimentally and wincing.

“If...you would not mind? I’m not sure I can reach without…”

“Of course!”

She smiled and held her arms out for him. He sank into her embrace, burying his face in her neck and sighing contentedly as her hair curled around him once more. His arms loosely circled her waist, fingers idly stroking the small of her back, and she pressed the side of her face against his head before uncapping the injector. Her left hand came up to cradle his head and tease his scalp while her right slotted the injector into his neck port and depressed the injection button with smooth, practiced movements. 

His hands tightened for a fraction of a second like they always did and she could feel his brow crease against her as the medicine unloaded into his system. She knew it was never exactly a pleasant feeling for him, but they’d agreed it really was the fastest and most direct method of administering his pain suppressants and it completely bypassed the nausea the pill variant gave him, something which Hordak had insisted was infinitely worse. 

Entrapta kissed the edge of his ear and pulled the injector away, capping it and relinquishing it to her hair to be set aside for cleaning and disposal later. Her arms wrapped around him, stroking his back and neck and lightly massaging his bruised shoulder. Hordak sighed and she could practically see the medicine washing over his body as his muscles loosened and he melted into her. Entrapta relaxed back into him, letting her eyes slide closed as her own exhaustion began creeping up on her; it was late, bordering into disgustingly early, and she still hadn’t slept yet.

“...ou.” Hordak mumbled.

“Mm?” she hummed back.

He swallowed a few times and tried again. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For being here. For...for coming early to see me even though you did not have to.”

Entrapta curled around him a little tighter.

“You couldn’t have kept me away even if you’d tried.”


End file.
